Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway made a slew of changes to its massive equity portfolio last quarter, including adding a financial stock during the latest banking crisis, according to a new regulatory filing. The Omaha-based conglomerate built a new stake in Capital One Financial in the first quarter, worth more than $950 million, the filing showed. The McLean, VA.-based financial institution fared relatively well during the recent banking chaos with shares rising more than 3% in the first quarter. It’s unclear if it was Buffett who purchased the stock or one of his investing lieutenants, Todd Combs and Ted Weschler, who oversee about $15 billion each for Berkshire. At the same time, Berkshire dumped its remaining stakes in Bank of New York Mellon and U.S. Bancorp . The “Oracle of Omaha” recently struck a pessimistic tone about the health of banks, saying we were not through with bank failures and American banks could face more turbulence ahead. Apple, Activision and more Berkshire also hiked its two biggest holdings – Apple and Bank of America – slightly in the first quarter. The conglomerate also increased its bet on HP to a bet worth more than $3.5 billion at the end of March, making it Berkshire’s 10th biggest holding. Meanwhile, the conglomerate continued to trim its merger arbitrage play Activision Blizzard last quarter, but the stake was still worth more than $4 billion at the end of March. Microsoft’s $69 billion takeover deal on Monday won the approval from the European Union, but it was opposed by the U.S. and the U.K. regulators. Outside of top holdings, Berkshire added a small stake – worth about $40 million – in Diageo , a British alcoholic beverage company
